Resolving Powers

Frequently Asked Questions

Event Cards

• Does a Spirit have to pay for the Power Card played via Ethereal Conjunction?
  No, since the card is put directly into play without needing to pay its cost.

  However, the Spirit still needs to pay any costs associated with using the Power, whether that's a mandatory "Cost to Use" (e.g., for Absolute Stasis) or a cost associated with a particular choice (e.g., for Hazards Spread Across the Island). You can pick a Power Card with a Cost to Use that you can't afford; in that case, you fail to use the Power and then Forget the card.
  Tags: Cost To Use, Resolving Powers, Ethereal Conjunction, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), 3 more...

General Play

• How does "resolve powers in the order they're written" work for things like "If you have (elements), +1 Range"?
  Internal modifiers like this – a Power changing its own Speed, Range, or other targeting – are looked at when they're relevant (like during targeting), not during normal Power resolution. This is an exception to "do things strictly in order once using the Power".

  This is also the case for Powers like The Jungle Hungers, where a threshold modifies the instructions earlier in the Power. Technically, every use of "Instead..." in an innate power works this way; it's pretty simple for human minds to understand the intent, but the formal specification is messier.

  Also related: A Power that is 100% internal modifiers doesn't do anything, so can't be targeted/used for things like Scream Disease Into the Wind..
  Tags: Resolving Powers, Range Boosts, Speed (Fast/Slow), Targeting, 6 more...

Power Cards

• With Terror Turns to Madness, if Fear from it gets you to the next Terror Level, do you also get the next Terror Level's effects?
  No, it's a 3-way conditional: you only check the Terror Level at the time you reach the first of the lines.
  Tags: Resolving Powers, Terror Turns to Madness

Spirits and Innate Powers

• Can Volcano just decide to destroy Presence with Explosive Eruption without triggering any of the other effects (for the benefit from Collapse in a Blast of Lava and Steam)? Can it destroy more than it needs to?
  Yes.

  Formally, "Destroy X [Presence]" is just a part of the innate that doesn't require any elements. Doing so counts for the Power to have been considered "used", for things like Scream Disease Into the Wind, even if you Destroyed just 1 Presence (the minimum for that Power).
  (Discussion elsewhere) (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Resolving Powers, Explosive Eruption (Volcano Looming High), Collapse in a Blast of Lava and Steam (Volcano Looming High)
• If all you can do with an innate power is change its Speed or Range (eg: either of Thunderspeaker's innates with 4 Air only), is that enough to target and use the Power?
  No, a power needs to have the potential to do something (not just modify its own attributes) in order to be targeted or used.

  This is usually irrelevant, but can occasionally be important (for, e.g., Scream Disease Into the Wind, or other "after using a power on a land..." effects.)

  It does not need to actually do something, as long as it has an instruction that could in theory modify the game state. Setting up a triggered action for the current Power only (eg: Lure's first innate) doesn't count, either; it's effectively an internal modifier as well, despite using a trigger for timing.
  Tags: Targeting, Resolving Powers, Range Boosts, Range, 4 more...